If you are like millions of people, you probably would’ve embarked in a weight loss journey at some point of your life trying to lose a little weight or maybe a lot of weight. You must’ve tried number of diets and exercises to make this happen but when you don’t see the desired results in the first few days, have you found yourself quitting? We easily give up on our goals because we are not seeing the desired results at the moment.
Furthermore, as humans we all dream of becoming something big, an entrepreneur, a chief executive officer, we love the idea of becoming successful and famous but what happens when life throws the first road block at us? We give up on our dreams entirely and assume failure because the process of gaining new knowledge and mastering a skill wasn’t the force that was driving us; it was the shiny reward at the end.
Don’t you think that we are conditioned to want instant results in whatever we do? The key principles to achieve some level of success like being patient, working hard and staying consistent in our journey are no more seen in us. This is why it is difficult for us to stick to the goals that we had set for ourselves. We focus so much on the results that if we don’t achieve it within the time we set for ourselves, we QUIT.
Let’s take a look at what will happen if we shift our mindset and focus on the process rather than the result in our journey towards our goals.
You can outwork your competitors: There are many people in the world who are much more talented, smarter and creative than us but when if we have the ability to keep on going no matter what happens, we will be able to beat our opponent. I would like to share what Will Smith once said about how he got to be more successful in his career.
“The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a treadmill. I will not be out-worked, period. You might have more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be all of those things you got it on me in nine categories. But if we get on the treadmill together, there’s two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple, right?
You’re not going to out-work me. It’s such a simple, basic concept. The guy who is willing to hustle the most is going to be the guy that just gets that loose ball. The majority of people who aren’t getting the places they want or aren’t achieving the things that they want in this business is strictly based on hustle. It’s strictly based on being out-worked; it’s strictly based on missing crucial opportunities. I say all the time if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready.”
We all need to cultivate this discipline. If we work hard consistently, then we can outperform even our toughest competitors easily.
You gain satisfaction in the pursuit: Success is a journey, not a destination. When we focus on the process, we pay attention to the present and enjoy it fully. Having our eyes only on the end results will make us hate the work we need to do in order to get there. When you constantly look at the future, where our results are, the fact that we can’t get there this very minute makes us unhappy with the process that we are currently doing and eventually quit. But, on the other hand when you become present to the process of getting there, we focus on building the skills that we need to develop in order to get the results and enjoy the process of doing so.
As Abraham Lincoln rightly said, “If I had 8 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend six of those hours sharpening my axe.”, if we want to succeed in our endeavors, we need to live in the present and pay attention on mastering the skills that are needed in the long journey ahead.
I know consistency can be tiring. Putting in the effort, day in and day out for a long time, will make us feel like a loser. Not seeing those results for a while can be really frustrating; this is where most people quit but hang in there, If you can push through this phase and keep putting in the efforts even if it feels like going nowhere, you can achieve extraordinary things in Life !
